Nuclear Power and Energy Security (NATO Science for Peace and Security Series B: Physics and Biophysics)

World energy consumption has grown dramatically over the past few decades. This growth in energy demand will be driven by large increases in both economic growth and world population coupled with rising living standards in rapidly growing countries. The last years, we routinely hear about a "renaissance" of nuclear energy. The recognition that nuclear power is vital to global energy security in the 21st century has been growing for some time.

"The more we look to the future, the more we can expect countries to be considering the potential benefits that expanding nuclear power has to offer for the global environment and for economic growth," IAEA Director General Mohamed ElBaradei said in advance of a gathering of 500 nuclear power experts assembled in Moscow for the "International Conference on Fifty Years of Nuclear Power - the Next Fifty Years".

But such a renaissance is not a single-valued and sure thing. Legitimate four unresolved questions remain about high relative costs; perceived adverse safety, environmental, and health effects; potential security risks stemming from proliferation; and unresolved challenges in long-term management of nuclear wastes. Failure to answer these questions adequately could imperil the nuclear revival so many have proclaimed is night. This proceeding examines the status and future of nuclear power because of a belief that this technology is an important option for the regional and the world countries to meet the future energy needs without emitting carbon dioxide and other atmospheric pollutants. The objectives, addressed to government, industry, and academic leaders, discusses the interrelated technical, economic, environmental and political challenges facing a significant increase in the global nuclear power utilization over the next half century and what might be done to overcome those challenges.